


In Which Fantine Gets What She Deserved

by mariuspondmercy



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 04:03:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13872723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspondmercy/pseuds/mariuspondmercy
Summary: Fantine froze as the letter was ripped out of her hands. Her secrets were in there, her shame and wonder, her Cosette. Of course, she could not have anticipated the actual outcome, could not have predicted that the foreman was likely to remove her from her job. Her life takes a different turn when Monsieur Madeleine, mayor of the town, intervenes and offers to bring back her child.





	In Which Fantine Gets What She Deserved

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thinkofaugust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinkofaugust/gifts).



> All my love to my wonderful friend Hannah, whose birthday it is today ♥

Fantine froze as the letter was ripped out of her hands. Her secrets were in there, her shame and wonder, her Cosette. Of course, she could not have anticipated the actual outcome, could not have predicted that the foreman was likely to remove her from her job. Maybe part of her had always known - why else would she conceal her own daughter like this? Still, the fear gripped her tightly as the dooming words about to be spoken. The voices of the other women were a high-pitched cacophony all around her, drowning out her own voice, her standpoints and arguments. 

“What is the meaning of this?” 

The booming voice of the mayor cut through the excitement, steady and deep.

“Fantine has a child!” Cried the original letter-seizing woman. “Surely she must work as a whore. Do we really want such a reputation upon our respectable business?” 

“I am not selling myself!” Fantine shot back, fighting with all her might. 

“The police is already here.” The woman pointed at Inspector Javert, surveying the scene from where he had just entered the room. “They’ll take her away for her unlawful behaviour.”

“No, please! Monsieur Le Mayor, you must believe me! There is a child, my child, Cosette, she lives with an innkeeper and his wife. She is sick and she needs medicine for which I have to send the money!” 

Monsieur Madeleine’s eyes flit over to the inspector and back to Fantine. “Come with me, child. We will discuss the matter in my office.”

“She will only try and force herself upon you, cause you shame!” 

“Do you really believe,” the mayor addressed the woman, “that I could be swayed?”

“Of course not, Monsieur.”

The mayor nodded curtly and placed his hand onto Fantine’s arm to lead her away to his office. Passing the foreman, he took the letter from his hands. He read it swiftly once the door had closed behind him and Fantine, leaving the young woman feeling ignored. 

“Monsieur Le Mayor,” she started but was stopped when he raised her hand to silence her. 

Monsieur Madeleine read over the letter and placed it onto his desk. “Please, sit, my child.”

Hesitantly, Fantine took the chair opposite of him.

“Monsieur, I am not a whore,” she promised once more. 

“I do believe you. The child, is she yours? Your sister?”

“My daughter, Cosette. She isn’t yet eight years old, but nearly so.”

“What of the father?”

“He abandoned us when Cosette was but a wee child. I cannot claim money from him, we were never married but he had promised himself to me. I didn’t doubt him. I did not enter our relationship in shame but he left me so.”

“I understand. How long has it been since you’ve last seen your child?” 

“Close to five years, Monsieur. But I do believe she is well cared for. The innkeeper sends me letters regularly. She is very sickly and I worry about her.”

Monsieur Madeleine hummed thoughtfully. 

“Five years is a long time. Would you like to raise her yourself?”

“Of course, Monsieur. But I cannot. Where would she stay while I’m at the factory? Who would take care of her? I don’t make enough money to pay for a maid and I work long hours. Monsieur, can you not plead with the foreman so that I might keep my work?”

“I have the right to make the last decision, that much is true,” Monsieur Madeleine smiled softly. “But would you really want to keep working at a place where now every worker knows for secret? They will not be kind to you.”

“I have no other choice, Monsieur.”

“I would like to offer you a job, Fantine. We could bring Cosette here to this town and you could work as a maid or a housekeeper while tending to her. Nearly eight, you say? It is time for her to get a good education. Maybe with the nuns?”

Fantine eyed him with wariness - nothing kind a man did ever came without a price. “Why?”

“Why?” He furrowed his brows. “Because I feel that you have been unfairly treated and I would like to right a wrong. I fear that the foreman would not be nice to you if you continued working here. I only want to help, I promise. I have only a small flat but I’d be happy to employ you as a housekeeper. You can take Cosette with you when you’re running errands and she isn’t in school. We can draw up a contract, if you’d like. So you can be on the safe side.”

What other choice would she even have? The mayor was right, staying at her current job wouldn’t be advisable. And so far he had been nothing but friendly and accommodating. Judging by the other women’s reactions, Fantine expected them to go around town and discredit her. She wouldn’t find another job in town, so why not take a leap of faith? Maybe because the last leap of faith she’d done out of naivety and it ended in her giving away her daughter to strangers - kind strangers, luckily, but strangers nonetheless. But Monsieur Madeleine had an established reputation. He gave to charity, went to Church, kept his head down and ran the town with kindness and consideration. Trusting him wouldn’t be the worst thing she’d ever done. 

“Would I be able to keep living in my room?”

“Is there enough room for you and Cosette?”

“I will make it work, Monsieur.”

Monsieur Madeleine hummed thoughtfully. “Alright. I will believe you. How far away does she live?”

“About four days on foot, Monsieur.”

“Well, then I’d say we better pack our bags and get going. I will hire a carriage and we can meet again in two hours in front of the factory.”

He was about to say something else when a knock on the door disturbed them. Seconds later, the door opened and the inspector entered the room. 

“Monsieur Le Mayor,” he started, “I wanted to introduce myself. I am Javert, the new inspector of police and will oversee any and all legal matters. I am going to…”

“Inspector Javert,” Madeleine cut in, “you are disturbing us. I did not invite you into my office and I would be pleased if you were to leave until I have settled my matters here.”

“Monsieur Le Mayor…”

“Nothing more, Inspector Javert. Please, leave us now. I will contact you another time as we are preparing for a journey.”

With an undignified huff, the inspector left the office, closing the door harshly behind him. 

Two hours later, Fantine stood at the entrance of the factory again, the bundle of her belongings clutched tightly in her arms. She still didn’t trust the mayor, but what choice did she have? Word had already travelled, and her landlady had not wanted a rumoured whore living in her rooms. Now she was once more without hope, without work, without living quarters. Really, what fate could possible awaiting her now? She was trembling all through the ride in the carriage, even though the mayor tried to calm her down. It was to no avail, so he stopped after some hours. They came to a small city at the brink of night when the carriage finally stopped. Much to Fantine’s surprise, the mayor paid for two seperate rooms and even for her dinner before relaying the plan again.

“We will continue at dawn and take our breakfast in the carriage. That way we can reach your Cosette faster. Have you paid the money for her medicine yet?”

“No, Monsieur, I have not. I don’t have the means for it, I must confess. I had to pay out the rent for my room for the next two weeks as my landlady terminated my lease due to the rumours coming from the factory.”

“Oh… so you have no place to live?”

“No, Monsieur, but Cosette and I will find something.”

“Nonsense, I will obviously see to it. Fantine, from now on, you will never have to worry. I will see to you as if you were my daughter. Cosette and you will want for nothing.”

“I do not wish to be reliable on you, Monsieur.”

“No, it’s quite alright. I will give you an allowance and you’re free to leave, if you wish to do so. I could hire you as my personal maid. We need bigger living quarters anyway… I will see to it once we are back. Maybe I should’ve thought of it beforehand but I didn’t want you to miss your daughter any longer.”

“A few more weeks wouldn’t have mattered, Monsieur. I have missed her for five years already.” 

“All the more reason to act as quickly as possible. With that, I bid you a good night, Fantine. I will send someone to wake you in the morning.”

Monsieur Madeleine left her to her own thoughts and worries, though they weren’t as big anymore. During the days of the journey, Madeleine opened up a little bit, talked about how proud he was of being the mayor of their little town, of overseeing all the workers, of making sure everyone was feeling good and as happy as they could be. Fantine found his talks very immature; the mayor certainly had never struggled with poverty and hence didn’t seem to think of the poor of his town. But she never voiced her thoughts, too afraid to antagonise the man who had so far been nothing but kind to her. 

Fantine feared the confrontation with the Thénardiers. Of course, they were good people but she could only imagine that they’d grown fond of Cosette, that Cosette had grown fond of them and maybe wouldn't want to leave. Could she really rip her beloved child out of her surroundings and take her with them? With a woman she had no memory of and a man she had never met before? It would break her heart to see her child cry, to be the cause of her tears. 

“Is this the inn?” Madeleine pointed at the small and dinky tavern Fantine had stopped in front of. 

“Yes,” she whispered. 

In a flight of panic, she gripped Madeleine’s hand in her shaking one. He squeezed softly and smiled at her.

“Are you ready to bring your child home?” 

“I’m so worried she will not want to come with me,” Fantine whispered. 

“It could happen but she is still young and you are her mother, in blood and in law. A child is always happier with their actual mother.” 

He gently ushered her through the door, stepping into a shouting match which was less a match and more a woman going off with a small boy cowering before her. Fantine flinched, gripping Madeleine’s hand even tighter. 

“Excuse me,” his voice rose over the shouting. “We are looking for Cosette.”

The woman straightened up and narrowed her eyes. “What has that little scoundrel done now?”

The boy quickly scampered off, hiding behind two girls who had just appeared in a doorway.

“Did she drop the water bucket again? Monsieur, worry not, I will punish her accordingly once she is back from running her errands.”

“We will wait here until she is back,” Fantine said through gritted teeth. 

The woman - Madame Thénardier - immediately began fussing over them, offering them drinks and food after their journey. It took about half an hour until an underfed, dirty child entered the inn, dragging a heavy bucket after her. Madeleine immediately jumped up, making the girl shriek and draw back from him. 

“My child, don’t worry,” he cooed and knelt down. “Are you Cosette?”

She nodded softly, her eyes flitting between him, Fantine and her foster mother. 

“These people have been looking for you,” Madame Thénardier spat. “What did you do?”

“Nothing, Madame, I swear!” Cosette proclaimed. “I have never seen them in my life! I only fetched the water in the woods, as you asked.”

“You sent the child out by herself? In the darkness of the night?” Fantine inquired. 

“She can handle it, Madame.”

“I’m scared of the darkness,” Cosette - now safe in Madeleine’s arms - whispered. 

“Your mother is a whore, a child of the night, so you better get used to the darkness, Colette… Cosette.”

“I am no such woman!” Fantine rose, getting the letters she had received out of her coat pocket. “I am here to take my daughter with me.”

“Here are the ten Francs Fantine still owes you.” Madeleine placed the money onto the table. “I am sure it will not take you long to forget about her.

Madame Thénardier looked through the letters, horror dawning on her face. “You cannot just take her!”

“Of course we can. Fantine is her mother, she has every right to take her child. Are there any more debts?”

“You see, the child is always very ill, so we spent a lot of money on medicine for her. I can fetch my husband…”

“That will not be necessary. I am sure you did most of the childcare, so you are my best source. Will 200 Francs be enough?”

“Well, you see…”

“I suppose 200 ist more than nothing, isn’t it?” He readjusted Cosette on his arm, who was still staring silently at Fantine. 

“Of course, Monsieur.” 

Madeleine placed some more money on the table. “Fantine, I believe we are done here. Our carriage is waiting.” He sat Cosette down. “My child, do you have anything you’d like to take with you?”

Cosette shook her head and took Fantine’s head, making her gasp softly. Fantine gently tugged on Cosette’s hand to lead her out of the inn. She had not imagined Cosette’s life this way. When she had met Madame Thénardier and her daughters, they had seemed like perfectly kind people. How they could mistreat their children so… she didn’t know. 

“Are you really my mother?” Cosette piped up, squeezing Fantine’s hand tightly once the three of them had left the inn. 

“I really am your mother. And the man is…”

“Your grandfather,” Madeleine smiled down at Cosette. He helped the women get into the carriage. “Are you cold, Cosette? We bought you new clothes. And a doll.”

“I am a little cold, Monsieur.” 

Together, they helped Cosette change into something warmer before Fantine presented her with her new doll, which Cosette clutched tightly. It didn’t take long before she fell asleep, curled up in Fantine’s lap. Fantine gently ran her fingers through Cosette’s matted her, smiling softly down at her. Maybe it really hadn’t been wrong to place her faith into the mayor. It might just turn out to be the second best thing she had done. The very best thing obviously being her little daughter. 


End file.
